Can humans evolve to breathe underwater?

No, humans are highly unlikely to evolve to breathe underwater because water holds far too little oxygen for our warm-blooded, high-energy needs, requiring massive, inefficient gills; evolution favors air-breathing mammals that resurface, like whales, and it's hard for complex lungs to revert to efficient gills, with Dollo's Rule suggesting evolution doesn't truly go backward, making it an extremely improbable path, notes this iNaturalist Forum thread, Quora user, Petezani, and another Quora post.


Would it be possible for humans to breathe underwater?

Humans cannot breathe underwater because our lungs do not have enough surface area to absorb enough oxygen from water, and the lining in our lungs is adapted to handle air rather than water.

Can humans evolve to have gills?

The anatomical space required for large gills, coupled with the need for a mechanism to force water over them, is why mammals, including humans, have never evolved with gills. Although mammals don't possess gills, embryonic development in humans reveals remnants of early gill-like structures called pharyngeal arches.


Could humans have evolved underwater?

While humans can adapt to short underwater stays with gear, evolving to live permanently underwater is highly improbable, requiring massive anatomical changes like gills or blowholes, adaptations for immense pressure, cold, and poor visibility, and overcoming limitations in oxygen extraction and heat retention that our air-breathing bodies aren't built for; essentially, it would create a new species, not just a human adaptation, and there's no clear evolutionary pressure for it. 

Why have humans not evolved to breathe underwater?

Water is more dense (viscous) than air which would require much larger breathing muscles to draw in and expel water compared to air - of course those muscles and larger lungs also require oxygen and removal of carbon dioxide so it's like the rocket fuel equation, the more lung and muscle tissue the more you need to ...


Joe Rogan Tells Us What The Navy Saw While Diving in the Ocean



Can we inhale 100% pure oxygen?

Nothing good, that's for sure. Breathing 100 percent oxygen at normal pressure can cause acute oxygen poisoning, which can lead to all sorts of symptoms, including: Fluid in the lungs, hyperventilation or labored breathing. Chest pains, mild burning on inhalation and uncontrollable coughing (sometimes with blood)

How will humans look like in 3000?

Well, if Mindy is anything to go by, it could lead to humans in the year 3000 having hunched backs and arched necks—and even suffering from something scientists are calling "tech neck," which causes the neck to sit slightly more forward and down as if hunched over.

Why is 95% of the ocean unexplored?

95% of the ocean is unexplored because of its immense size, extreme hostility (crushing pressure, total darkness, frigid temperatures), the immense cost and complexity of developing technology to reach it, and the sheer difficulty of mapping such a vast, featureless environment, making it a challenging and risky frontier for exploration. Even with modern tech, exploring the deep sea is like finding an ant on a beach, requiring specialized, expensive gear and immense effort for tiny glimpses.
 


Could humans live underground permanently?

One appeal is the energy efficiency and environmental friendliness of underground dwellings. However, underground living does have certain disadvantages, such as the potential for flooding, which in some cases may require special pumping systems to be installed.

What is the longest a human has stayed under water?

Croatian freediver Vitomir Maričić just shattered the world record for the longest human breath hold, an unbelievable 29 minutes and 3 seconds.

Is it 100% true that humans evolved from monkeys?

But humans are not descended from monkeys or any other primate living today. We do share a common ape ancestor with chimpanzees. It lived between 8 and 6 million years ago.


Are hiccups because we were fish?

Yes, the leading theory is that hiccups are an evolutionary leftover from our fish and amphibian ancestors, stemming from the reflex that allowed tadpoles to breathe water through gills while closing off their lungs, a mechanism now vestigial in humans but triggered by the same ancient nerve signals. Our diaphragm's nerve pathway is inefficiently long from fish origins, and the hiccup reflex itself mirrors the gill ventilation pattern of tadpoles, who use a similar muscle action to gulp water.
 

How did Chris survive so long without oxygen?

The most commonly agreed upon reasons for Chris' survival have to do with his environment. Chris spent 28 days saturating his entire body tissues to around 11 bar of Heliox, a mixture of Helium and Oxygen. His body may have been able to use some of the Oxygen in his body tissues to sustain brain function.

Is there an ancient technique to breathe underwater?

Over 3,000 years ago, the Assyrians developed a remarkably advanced underwater technique, as illustrated in this ancient relief. It shows Assyrian soldiers using goatskin bags filled with air to help them breathe while submerged-a clever early example of diving gear.


Is there a liquid humans can breathe?

Yes, humans can breathe certain oxygen-rich liquids, specifically Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), which are inert, colorless liquids capable of dissolving lots of oxygen, making liquid breathing (Partial Liquid Ventilation or PLV) possible for medical use, though it's difficult and uncomfortable due to the liquid's high density and viscosity, as shown in experiments like the movie The Abyss.
 

What if 99% of humans died?

The direct death toll alone could amount to tens to hundreds of millions of people. Or maybe even billions. If, in an absolute worst case scenario, 99 percent of the world population would die, that would leave 80 million people alive. Meaning in terms of population we would be back to 2500 BC.

Will humans be immortal by 2050?

No, humans will not achieve true biological immortality by 2050, but significant life extension and "effective immortality" (never dying from old age) might be possible for some, thanks to advances in genetic engineering (like CRISPR), 3D-printed organs, nanotechnology, and mind uploading (digital consciousness). While some futurists predict "longevity escape velocity" by then, allowing people to add more than a year to their lives annually, this means overcoming aging, not invulnerability to accidents, disease, or violence, with true physical immortality remaining elusive. 


How did early humans avoid inbreeding?

Early humans avoided inbreeding through complex social systems, forming large mating networks that connected different small hunter-gatherer bands, exchanging individuals (often males) to ensure partners were unrelated, much like modern hunter-gatherers, a practice seen as early as 34,000 years ago through DNA analysis showing distant kinship in burials. They used social cues and cultural rules, possibly reinforced by jewelry and rituals, to facilitate these inter-group unions, understanding instinctively or through observation that mating outside the immediate group maintained genetic diversity and health.
 

Will the ocean ever be 100% explored?

We have a great deal more to learn about our ocean and what resides within it, but progress IS being made. We learn more and more each year. We continue to discover new features and creatures, clues to our past, and resources that can improve our future. But the ocean will never be fully explored.

What does God say about the ocean?

God speaks about the ocean as His creation, a symbol of His immense power and authority, a source of life (creatures), a boundary He controls (Jeremiah 5:22), and a place for both judgment (Flood) and salvation (Red Sea), demonstrating His mastery over chaos and nature, as seen in Genesis, Job, and the Psalms. 


What did NASA find at the bottom of the ocean?

NASA's underwater discoveries focus on using space tech (like satellites and rovers) to map the ocean floor, find analogs for alien life on ocean worlds (like Europa), and develop deep-sea robots, revealing thousands of hidden seamounts, vast microbial ecosystems in basalt, and new volcanic activity, all while studying deep-sea resources and supporting missions like SWOT for better seafloor imaging, revealing a mysterious, life-filled deep ocean vital for Earth's climate.
 

What will happen in 1 sextillion years?

In 1 sextillion (10^21) years, the universe will be in the "Degenerate Era," far past the death of stars and galaxies, with only black holes, neutron stars, and cold white dwarfs remaining, as all normal matter slowly decays into iron, making the universe a dark, cold, and nearly empty place, though some speculative theories suggest advanced civilizations might build artificial systems or new universes.
 

Is Darwin's theory 100% true?

Ernst Mayr observed, "The basic theory of evolution has been confirmed so completely that most modern biologists consider evolution simply a fact.


When did humans first become white?

White skin in humans developed relatively recently, primarily as an adaptation to lower sunlight in higher latitudes, with key genetic mutations appearing and spreading in Europe around 6,000 to 12,000 years ago, after the arrival of humans from Africa, coinciding with the Neolithic period and changes in diet, allowing for better Vitamin D synthesis. While early human migrants to Europe had dark skin, pale skin genes became common later, especially in Northern Europe, to combat low UV light levels.